Chapter Nineteen
Noah and I spent the morning in the townhome.
He slept on the armchair he’d carried into Jules’ bedroom while I puttered around the house pulling together a small breakfast for us. Thankfully they had some tonics on hand, but I had no idea what Jules might need. I woke Noah for breakfast mainly because I knew he liked the smell of toasted bread and enjoyed sitting with us while we took a meal. Though Lilith lay beside her mother’s sleeping form, her eyes stayed open as she appeared to memorize Jules’ face.
She refused to eat, however, only changed out the damp cloth on Jules’ brow and ignored the plate I set on the bedside table.
I dozed off eventually at the foot of the bed and woke to a delicate hand brushing back my hair. I blinked, groaned and pushed up to a seat. Jules frowned, looking between the three of us who sat vigil at her bedside. But the witch before me was not the strong woman I knew. Her skin was a sickly green, the bruises beneath her eyes deeper than ever I’d seen them, and a soft wheeze whistled in her throat whenever she took a breath.
“What happened?” she rasped.
I jumped up, encouraging her to rest back on the pillows. “You collapsed at Lord Montag’s home during the hunt.”
Lilith stirred before waking with a gasp. “Maman!”
Noah was next, shooting from the chair and stumbling over to the bed. Jules hushed us with a wave of her hands as we all talked over each other, trying to get her to somehow relax more when she was already lying down.
“I’m fine.” She patted Lilith’s cheek while putting her hand over mine. “The wards were a bit more intense than I was anticipating. It did not help that Monsieur Hauet was distracted and dropped his side—I had to make up for his lack of attention. It must have just been a bit too much.”
Lilith’s brows rose incredulously. “A bit too much? Maman, you were coughing up blood.”
Jules waved her hand again. “It was nothing.”
I shook my head but didn’t correct her. The other two had not seen Jules in Mateo’s arms, the pale moonlight drawing her face into that of a corpse. Noah offered her a glass of water while Lilith smoothed the covers over her stomach.
“Enough, darling.” Jules placed the glass on the bedside table and grabbed Lilith’s hands. “I’m sorry I frightened you, especially so soon after your grandmère, but I’m fine. I only need rest and recovery for a few days, which means I need you to run Risqeu while I do, yes?”
Lilith nodded, her expression pinched and childlike in sadness as she tangled her fingers with Jules’. “Yes, Mother.”
“Adrienne, you and Noah go and rest before your shifts tonight. Lilith will meet you at the market.”
We nodded while Noah wrapped an arm around my shoulder and encouraged me to move from the bed. I wanted to protest that she should not be alone, but I held my tongue, remembering the stricken look on Mateo’s face, sure he would be here to care for her.
So we kissed both Searah women on the forehead, made sure their water pitcher was full, and left the townhome as quietly as we could.
“What’s this?”I asked Lilith, slipping through the curtain and weighing the small bag ofoyistain my palm.
Lilith sat on the stool her mother usually occupied, fingers playing with the edge of the ledger as she stared into the crowd. When she didn’t answer I took another step closer—her eyes were red-rimmed and a muscle twitched in her jaw every few seconds.
I placed my hand on her shoulder. “Lils?”
She jumped, rubbing her eye with a fist. “Sorry, what?”
I lifted the bag a little higher. “What’s this?”
“Oh, it’s your payment from last night. I left Liam’s in his parlor.”
With a frown I peered into the bag. “There has to be more than a thousandoyistain there.”
She hummed, the corner of her mouth tugging down. “Thirteen hundred.”
“That’s too much.” Especially when Lord Montag had not even been able to hunt me. I was surprised he had paid at all.
Lilith shrugged while she strummed her teeth across her bottom lip. “I don’t know, but it’s here in the ledger. I believe Lord Montag paid the night before last, as soon as Maman confirmed you would be in attendance.”
Disgust roiled in my chest. I reached into the bag, counted out three hundredoyistaand held it out to her. “Take this.”
My friend blinked at me, a furrow forming between her brow. “Why are you acting as if this payment offends you? You did a job?—”
